Artist's statement:

Last year I was gearing up for a show with 17 other photographers who were all really talented.

I felt pressure to put up something that really stood out. But I just wasn’t feeling inspired.

A few weeks before the show I was stopped dead in my tracks by a stream of light coming through my window onto my hands.

It was so simple, and yet so beautiful.

I spent a lot of time shooting in that one spot, and put up this piece in the show.

Even though it was not exactly what I had in mind, I felt so good knowing it came from an honest place.

I titled it “My Whole Life” because our hands, and what we do with them is what makes us all so unique.

With my hands, I choose to take pictures.

Life as a photographer is truly a blessed one. We are always seeking out the beauty in everything we see.

The hands are open to symbolize gratitude for the life paths we lead, which some might say are written into the unique prints we all possess.

2008 - Calgary, AB

14" X 36" Ink-Jet print on archival paper from a signed, limited edition of twenty.

Director's comments:

In recent weeks I have been developing a closer relationship with Hoogveld, and I pressed the artist to pursue development of a unique style begun with her panel photographs, of which this one is a stunning example.

I liken this masterfully lit study of form and shadows to Man Ray's photographs of the 1920's, including his "Rayographs" which used objects to create abstracted patterns employing darkroom trickery.

This image for me is also an homage to great cinematographers like Greg Toland, who filmed "Citizen Kane" for Orson Welles.

It is not often that we see a technical command of their medium in such a young artist, and it purports that we should all have high expectations of Ms. Hoogveld in her bright future.